Old English: tréow [TRAY-oh]
1. noun tree, wood
2. noun truth, fidelity, faith, trust, belief; pledge, promise, agreement
Cheers to forward tracing!
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Philip Pearson has been writing the biographies of the forgotten crew members of the Challenger expedition (1872-1876), which is regarded as one of the greatest scientific voyages of the Victorian era.
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Philip asked me for help with forward tracing (which is the process of working down the generations to find descendants rather than backwards to find ancestors) I've succeeded in putting him in touch with descendants of Stokers, Bandsmen, Boy Sailors and Able Seamen.
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Once such crewman was Anthony Delaine. Using newspaper archives and court records, I discovered that Anthony was very nearly transported to Australia in 1854 for stealing horse hair aged 12. After an intervention by the Secretary of State, Anthony was transferred to a 'Reform Frigate' for Nautical Training, which began his navy career.
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Anthony volunteered for the Challenger in 1872 and returned to England in 1876, having sailed 68,890 miles and circumnavigated the globe.
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Through building Anthony's tree, following the generations down and scouring social media and newspapers, I tracked down Anthony's 2x great-granddaughter, who revealed that she was in possession of an engraved metal tankard awarded to Anthony for his service on the Challenger.
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The tankard turned out to be a unique item from the voyage, the existence of which would have remained otherwise unknown to historians.
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To find out more about A Challenger's Song, click here
